Prologue - The Incident at Cloudy Island
In the dead of the night on a tropical island 120 miles off the western coast of Equestria located in a clearing stood a lone square concrete structure. The structure resembled a holding pen and it was slightly over three meters tall. The clearing had been artificially made; the opening in the jungle covered by sand. The very top of the structure was lined with metallic square-shaped poles leaning slightly inward. These poles were connected to each other by metallic cables, which radiated an aura of magical energy, as well as conducted high voltage electricity. Pairs of blue and yellow lights were connected to each pole. They were blinking in rhythm, one of the lights on a pole always giving way for the other, thereby offering any onlooker the chance to realize that something was actively being channeled through the cables. A concrete walkway surrounded the structure, giving anypony walking on it a chance to look down into the fenced area. Metal stairs on all four corners of the structure allowed ponies easy access to the walkway. Visibility into the actual pen was obscured by darkness, but the faint illumination from the Night Princess’ moon high above the island would allow anypony looking down into the pen to see slight hints of thick vegetation. It was a serene crystal clear night without clouds. The crickets were playing their high-pitched symphony for those ears capable to hear it. A metallic fence-like structure had been installed right above the vegetation in the pen, running parallel with the walkway outside the fenced area. The entire structure and its contraptions had clearly been built with great care to successfully house several captive creatures. All of these security measures would effectively prevent anything unwanted from getting in or, more importantly, getting out.
On one long end of the concrete structure stood a guard tower. Two earth pony stallions could be seen at the very top of the tower. Both were wearing distinct dark-blue working overalls covering their equine bodies from front to back as well as red construction helmets on top of their heads. A black and yellow logo accompanied by a distinctly fitting piece of red-white text had been placed on the front side of the helmets. The logo was a curious one. It depicted a black skeleton of a dragon; a legendary species that went extinct a long time ago due to cataclysmic events in Equestria’s not so distant past. The contrast of the black skeleton was very clear against the otherwise round yellow background. Right beneath the logo an onlooker could clearly read the printed words “Jurassic Park”. These two words wouldn’t mean a lot to anypony not in the know of things. However, the two ponies in the guard tower knew exactly what the words implied and what great responsibility and care it required from them. The evidence was, after all, right in front of them inside the pen.
One of the earth pony stallions with a green coat and black mane was making his rounds along the concrete walkway built around the top of the tower, regularly eyeing the pen area beneath him. He was carrying a weapon, a Mare16 assault rifle and a couple of reserve ammo clips, which were attached to a harness placed on top of the blue overall. Whatever the pony was guarding was dangerous enough to warrant such heavy armament. A special contraption attached to the pony’s body helped the stallion to control his weapon while moving, freeing up all four of his hooves, thus enabling him to operate both flexibly and quickly in case the need would ever arise. While the stallion made his way around the tower, the second stallion with a brown coat and a orange mane was observing a control board placed on top of the tower. The control board, which gave off weak illumination, could be used to monitor the amount of energy being channeled into the fence and machinery bellow. If anything went awry in the machinery or the power supply, the stallion observing the control board would be the first to know and could take proper actions.
Suddenly, a landline phone attached to the control board began ringing. Instead of being surprised by the sudden turn of events, the stallion observing the control board casually answered the incoming call. After all, he had been expecting it. Listening to the caller and merely giving a short verbal acknowledgment to whomever he was speaking to, the stallion switches his attention to four small red switches located beside the phone. He began turning them one by one. As each switch was turned from “off” to “on”, spotlights, previously hidden by the darkness of the night, located on the front side of the guard tower as well as along the edges of the concrete structure turned on, bathing both the pen and the surrounding clearing in intensely bright light. The newly lit up area revealed a large thick metallic gate at the opposite end of the concrete structure some ten meters away from the tower together with a concrete loading ramp. Two parallel straight tracks had been carved into the concrete, leading from the very edge of the loading ramp to the metallic gate.
A few minutes later a few stray shouts could be heard coming from the distance, as a group of 35 mares and stallions, a mix of pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies made their way towards the now illuminated clearing. Everypony closing in on the concrete structure was wearing a similar outfit as the two ponies in the guard tower, except for a beige colored Unicorn with a short cut silver mane, a stallion, wearing a khaki safari outfit and carrying a matching khaki Stetson on the top of his head. The group was armed to the teeth in large rifle-like Tasers as well as several Mare16 assault rifles, the unicorn with the Stetson once again standing out from the crowd by levitating a SPAS-12, a shotgun of great renown across Equestria and beyond. Attached above his left chest pocket was a beige nametag with the name Wily Chaser stitched into it with green thread. Chaser’s flank was decorated with a blue crosshair, indicating him as a hunter of sorts. A cutie mark resembling a crosshair as well as the profession of a hunter would have been unthinkable back in the days of the elements of harmony, but a lot had changed since those days. The Equestria of today was a slightly different place than the magical realm described in history books. These days Equestria was considered a less harmonic place to live in, but still more than pleasant and nice to spend one’s time in if given the choice.
Gathering on both sides of the loading ramp, the ponies present knew that something was about to happen and expectantly turned to face the tree line near the ramp. Minutes passed, causing a dreadful suspense to descend down on the congregation The suspense was so thick that one could imagine being able to cut it with a knife. While waiting, Chaser observed the congregation, noting that one of the nearby Earth Ponies was chewing on bubblegum, apparently attempting to alleviate anxiety and stress. After a while the ponies’ hearing began picking up noises coming from the jungle, a low humming sound accompanied by branches breaking. Soon enough the bushes closest to the clearing began moving violently. Shortly thereafter a large metallic cage, rectangular in shape with very thick flat bars, came into view. Only very thin openings were present on the cage, as if to prevent anything from clawing at ponies happening to stand near it. Everypony’s mood stiffened as their eyes locked onto the bulky metallic object. It was being transported by a small truck, hanging partially up in midair, supported only by a lone wire and six unicorns focusing on the cage with their telekinetic magic.
“All right everypony! Step away from the ramp! Make room! Make room!” Chaser commanded with a voice that was surprisingly relaxed despite the suspense and giving off a slight hint of authority at the same time. Following this, the cage was slowly and carefully positioned above the loading ramp, weapons and gazes of the entire congregation constantly following it the entire time.
“Carefully lower the cage onto the loading ramp! Make sure that the wheels beneath the cage go into the tracks on the concrete! I also want all Tasers on full charge!” Chaser continued, signaling the unicorns supporting the cage and the truck driver to move onto the next face of the procedure. The truck driver and the unicorns supporting the cage proceeded to put down the cage with the outmost precision, the supporting team of unicorns making sure to correct the cage’s position so that the wheels got into the parallel tracks on the ramp. The procedure went without problems and the metallic cage touched down on the concrete ramp with a slightly dampened thud. Immediately after touching down, two of the pegasi present in the congregation flew on top of the cage and began detaching the wire connecting the cage and the truck. As they worked, the two pegasi could hear a sharp clicking purr coming from inside the cage. The pegasi looked at each other nervously, their heartbeats having slightly increased in speed, and hurried up with the procedure to the best of their ability. After detaching the wire, they took off and landed among congregation, giving a sigh of relief after touching down on the ground.
“Loading crew, move in! Take your positions!” Chaser commanded. As the loading crew, consisting of very muscular earth ponies, began to move towards the cage a loud screeching roar was heard from inside the cage. Everypony standing close to the cage, except Chaser, took a few steps back out of sheer shock, sudden fear clearly visible in their eyes.
“Get a hold of yourself ponies! It can’t do anything to you from inside that cage! Get that thing moving!” Chaser reassured. Reluctantly, but in quick succession nonetheless, the loading crew moved up to the cage and began pushing it towards the pen. The cage was heavy, but inch-by-inch it rolled forward, getting ever closer to the gate for each moment that passed. Beside the gate, on the concrete wall of the structure, three lights were installed. The three lights were colored red, yellow and green. Of the three lights the red one was actively burning. As the cage got close to the gate, the yellow light turned on shortly followed by the green one. The cage came to a halt with a click accompanied by a short and sharp metallic buzz, informing the congregation that the cage was now in its proper place for unloading.
“Very good! Gatekeeper, get to your position!” Chaser commanded. A fairly large Pegasus with silver feathers and a midnight-blue coat and a white mane flew up on the cage and took position by the gate. An aggressive clicking purr from inside the cage greeted the Pegasus as he landed on top of it. The Pegasus didn’t pay it any attention. He had done this process several times before and for him it had become something like a routine.
“Silverwing, raise the gate!” Chaser commanded the Pegasus after getting confirmation that everything was in order. Turning his attention towards the pen and the gate, Silverwing put his front hooves into specifically designed slots on top of the cage and began lifting the gate open. At first he would use his hind legs to support the lifting process. Then after he had extended himself as far as he could, he would take off and finish the deal while hovering in mid air. Slowly but surely the gate began rising. Once the gate was up, the ponies in the guard tower would open up the gate of the actual structure, enabling the cage’s occupant to enter into its new home.
As Silverwing had lifted the gate halfway up, the cage’s occupant let out a shrieking roar, while at the same time rushing straight for the opening. Pushing against the still closed structure gate with its legs while at the same time grabbing the cage’s half-open door, the creature managed to cause the cage to start rolling backwards violently straight towards the loading ramp. Silverwing, having not realized in time what was happening, hurt his head when the cage’s gate suddenly jerked backward, hitting him in the jaw. The sudden impact made the Pegasus lose control of his flight, causing him to crash on top of the cage, unwillingly roll on top of it and fall to the ground. The cage was moving in reverse at an alarming speed. The loading crew, quickly realizing what was happening, hurried to the cage in order to prevent it from sliding off the loading ramp. The first few ponies of the loading crew, who quickly got into a good position, were too weak alone to stop the heavy object’s movement, causing them to be thrown backwards. However, their attempts proved fruitful as the rest of the loading crew were quickly able to wrestle control of the cage and stop it from moving.
A mechanical alarm went off, as the ponies in the guard tower were able to properly react to what was happening and take the proper actions. Silverwing, still dazed due to hitting his jaw with the gate, heard the alarm go off and looked over his shoulder. Despite the sudden confusion, he saw that he lay right beside the partially opened cage entrance. As his vision quickly stabilized itself, he saw to his horror the dark silhouette of a creature mostly obscured from the spotlights by the gate. It was reptilian in shape, its eyes clearly gleaming in the dark. It was looking at him, murderous rage and hate in its eyes! Silverwing’s eyes went wide out of pain and fear accompanied by screams of pain as the creature lunged forth hissing, its teeth and talons digging deep into the pony’s flank. The creature retreated in quick succession back inside the cage, pulling Silverwing with it.
Silverwing, out of pure reflex, managed to grab hold of the gate’s corner with his front hooves; desperately trying to save himself despite the pain and terror he was experiencing. Wily Chaser and the other ponies, realizing Silverwing’s distress, rushed to the Pegasus’ aid. Chaser dropped his SPAS-12, ran up to Silverwing and grabbed hold of him with his hooves and telekinetic magic. The ponies carrying the Tasers poked them in through the holes of the cage and began electrocuting the creature inside. Some unicorns forgot all about using their allocated weapons, instead relying on their instinct and trying to use their magic to wrestle control of the creature trough brute force. It was a desperate endeavor in a desperate situation made even more hopeless by the fact that the creature was naturally resistant to magic. Chaser tried to desperately hold onto Silverwing with both magic and hoof, being forced to experience the horror of the situation first hand. The unicorn’s and the creature’s gazes met. They were staring eye-to-eye. Based on his earlier experiences, Chaser knew that they were smart, but what he saw in those murderous eyes was an alien intelligence so much beyond that of a normal creature or a pony, that it terrified him to the core of his being. This hypnotic moment of realization was quickly interrupted and broken by the pained cries and flailing of Silverwing, who was, by all accounts, slipping the unicorn’s grasp! That thing was winning despite the ponies’ best efforts! It was then that Chaser made the call:
“Shoot her!” he shouted. The ponies closest to Chaser were the only ones able to hear him. The commotion of the struggle prevented anypony else further away from hearing the command. Everypony had been extensively briefed about proper security measures and proper ways to act in a crisis situation like this. The rule of hoof was to avoid killing any living beings if possible. Hearing the actual command to kill took everypony by surprise to say the least. With nothing happening and Silverwing about to slip from his grasp, Chaser was struck by panic:
“SHOOT HER!” he repeated out of desperation. The congregation of ponies, hearing their leader’s distress, finally took to heart what they were expected to do. By the time Chaser lost his grip on Silverwing and the Pegasus was pulled inside the cage, a chorus of gunshots were echoing in the cloudless tropical night…
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The InGen corporate jeep came to a halt in a tiny clearing at the end of a long and bumpy jungle road. The area was bathing in sunlight; the surrounding vegetation increasing the humidity to nearly six times the norm. It was nearly intolerable levels for somepony not used to live in this particular corner of Equestria. Don Generous, an earth pony stallion with a chestnut colored mane and matching eyes as well as a Libra for a cutie mark, was among those select few to ever grace this particular area of the jungle. He was wearing a grey colored business suit complete with a red tie, obviously trying to indicate that he was on official business. However, one might argue that Don’s choice of attire was a poor choice considering the environment he was in. The Stallion was sweating profoundly from the heat and had to constantly drink tons of sparkling water in order to keep himself properly hydrated. Don Generous was InGen’s top lawyer and Jolt Hammerpony’s personal confidante regarding all matters legal. The two had agreed on meeting at the company’s southern Equestrian gem-mine, since Mr. Hammerpony was supposed to be present at the mine inspecting the working conditions and local dig plans relating to the expansion of the quarry. Don on the other hand was here to discuss legal matters pertaining to the company’s amusement park project on Cloudy Island, where an employee had perished in an accident while performing nighttime duties. That was the official story at least. Don Generous hadn’t been informed of the real events surrounding the employee’s death, merely a convincing cover-up story that, consequently, was completely fabricated. For all the lawyer knew or cared about, it was a work related accidental death like any other, an infinite source of red tape and paperwork with insurance companies. During his long career as a lawyer he had dealt with dozens of similar cases, in the end always being able to reach a settlement between both parties. He wasn’t called a star lawyer for nothing. InGen was also a very wealthy company that had the backing of several billion-bit investors and a specially coveted position of renown and favor in the eyes of the Equestrian crown. As things were currently standing, the company would be able to deal and afford with whatever legal issues came its way. That was Don’s job, to deal with any legal stuff that was shoveled into the management’s lap on a regular basis. At least he got paid for it. No matter what the actual truth of the matter was, it felt like legal issues were surfacing weekly as of late. The stallion suspected that he was slowly reaching the point of being overworked, but the job brought him perks that made up for it.
Grabbing his suitcase, Don stepped out from the jeep, informing the driver, who was an azure colored unicorn mare with a purple mane, that he’d be gone for some time. The mare was wearing sunglasses and had a steering wheel as her cutie mark. She nodded in acknowledgment, immediately inserting a CD into the jeep’s CD player. It was an album from some recently founded pop music group called Backstreet Colts, one of the most recent albums to make the Canterlot top-40 music chart. Don had heard of them in passing, but didn’t really know or care about the group or the music style they represented. He was more into oldies from a few decades back with big bands and great singers like Deal Martini. Looking around, Don saw a hinny standing at the edge of the clearing, while beckoning for him to approach. The lawyer obliged and was lead down a narrow jungle path to a relatively small and shallow lake. There was a wooden raft in the water. Two ropes had been tied to it, one being fastened to this end of the shore, while the other rope crossed the lake and was bound to the trunk of a tree on the other side. There was a donkey on the opposite shore. Don could see the gemstone quarry right behind it. Don realized that he apparently was going to stand on the raft and let himself be pulled across the lake. He didn’t mind the prospect terribly much, since his role in the endeavor would more or less be of a passive nature. Internally he had slight doubts about the stability of the raft and feared that he might lose his balance and fall into the water. Stepping on top of the raft, the donkey on the opposite side of the lake began pulling the rope, causing the raft to start floating through the water towards the other side. As he was about to reach the shore on the opposite side, Don saw a red colored Pegasus stallion with golden eyes and a cobalt mane glide down from the treetops, landing beside the donkey pulling the rope. Don noted the metal pick and spade on his flank.
“I was beginning to wonder when you’d show up. You sure took your sweet time getting here.” The Pegasus addressed the earth pony lawyer.
“Nice to meet you too Redwing. Not all of us have wings to carry us around you know. Is Hammerpony here?” Don asked as the raft touched the shore and the pony stepped back on land.
“No, he left some time ago. His daughter is apparently getting a divorce and he said that he had to spend time with her.” Redwing explained while at the same time beginning to lead Don towards the quarry. As they walked, Don saw several equines and Diamond Dogs working all over the place. It felt strange seeing this much industrious activity in the middle of the jungle.
“I can understand and respect that. But the fact of the matter is that InGen is facing a lawsuit of 20 million bits from the insurance company the dead employee’s family belongs to and now Hammerpony doesn’t even bother to see me?! This accident has raised very serious questions about the park’s safety. The crown and the investors have gotten very anxious about the entire thing and, in order to get them to calm down and not withdraw their support, I’ve offered to conduct a throughout full fledged inspection of the park.”
“Oh for Celestia’s sake, you and I both know how much Hammerpony hates inspections. He thinks they slow everything down.”
“It doesn’t matter if Hammerpony likes it or not. The inspection has to happen for the issue to be settled. Unless I can assure and convince all stakeholders that the park is safe, they will withdraw all forms of support, slowing everything down even more. You think that’s the better option?”
“How are you going to do the convincing?”
“I think an official inspection committee of a couple prominent ponies of varying backgrounds will close the deal. I have a list of suggestions with me that I intended to go through with Hammerpony, but apparently that list has to wait until later. I only need the endorsement of two experts to burry the issue and get it over with. Talk about spending 1,5 hours in the back seat of a jeep and an equal amount to be wasted on the way back to the airport.”
“Whom have you got on board?”
“I already have Iron Almcolt, but most are saying that he is too trendy, too modern. They want somepony old school. They want Almond Grey.”
Redwing was about to reply, but a young Diamond Dog came running out of the mine entrance, interrupting the conversation and grabbing Redwing’s attention.
“Mr. Redwing, we have found one!” The Diamond Dog explained.
“Really? Lead the way! Come with me Don, you have probably never seen anything like this before!” Redwing burst out with lots of excitement clearly audible in his voice.
They were led a short bit inside the mine. The ground had been dug in an uneven manner, making it hard for Don to keep his balance, as he was a typical city pony who wasn’t used to traveling at such uneven surfaces. Redwing proceeded to move towards an elderly Diamond Dog, who was grinding a large blue gemstone. The Diamond Dog, realizing that his foreman was looking at the large gem expectantly, handed it over for inspection. After taking hold of the gemstone in his front hooves, Redwing continued his conversation with Don:
“Grey? No chance in Discord that you can get him out of Maretana.” He stated in a voice that was both mocking and skeptical.
“How so?” Don asked, slightly confused by Redwing’s outright dismissal.
“Because Grey is like me. He is a digger.” The Pegasus replied, thereafter turning his head towards the entrance and calling out to a light purple earth pony mare with a black-red mane and eyes of crimson. She was standing near the electrical switch at the entrance. Don saw that a sickle and a hammer decorated her flank. The two objects crossed each other, creating an X. Don concluded that working hard with physical labor must have been her calling in life, which, honestly, was awfully stereotypical for an earth pony.
“Hey Eveningstar, could you please put out the lights for a few moments?! We need complete darkness over here!” Redwing shouted, the mare acting shortly thereafter. As darkness engulfed the mine, Don could clearly see the blue gemstone emitting an ambient blue glow. Staring into the gem itself, Don was surprised to see some sort of energy inside it. It flickered like a flame. It was a bit similar to the glow surrounding a unicorn’s horn when they performed magic. The lawyer had quite literarily never seen anything like it before. What kind of gemstone was Redwing inspecting in front of him? All other individuals in the vicinity gathered around the pair, observing the blue jewel and its mysterious glow in awe. This was something very few of them had ever seen with their own eyes.
“Just look at how beautiful you are. Yes, you will do nicely…” Redwing stated with clear intent embedded in his voice.
I hope you enjoyed reading the prologue!
I want to give special thanks to my three awesome pre-readers for helping out with the ironing! Your encouragement and help makes me willing to see this thing from beginning to end.
I also want to give a special shout-out to Uberhaxorbrony for helping out with the logo. A thousand thanks!
